


Curse of the Wolf (a.k.a The Longest Year of Kyuhyun's Life)

by pandorasv13



Series: SJ: Supernatural Adventures [1]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crack, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Curse Breaking, Friends to Lovers, Kyuhyun is done with everyone, Leeteuk as an occult fanatic, M/M, Mating Bites, Romantic Comedy, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 08:17:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12700986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorasv13/pseuds/pandorasv13
Summary: The story of Ryeowook being cursed by a werewolf, Kyuhyun becoming an unwitting "dom", and Super Junior learning to crack BDSM jokes.





	1. Chapter 1

It was official. This Halloween would go down as the worst one in the history of his life.

Ryeowook knew he shouldn’t have agreed to the variety show request. The premise was already questionable, but then add in his apparent bad luck, and things had taken a turn for the worst. The production team had assured them that although they were in the wilderness, no one had ever reported an animal attack. _Clearly_ , they hadn’t done their research well enough, because Ryeowook was currently gaping at a gash in his arm that stretched from wrist to elbow. Just looking at it made him want to puke, while the shock of the injury was spiking his heart rate beyond the safe range.

People were rushing around him, making calls and shouting for disinfectant. A part of Ryeowook wanted to spit at them that an entire bottle of disinfectant wouldn’t be saving him from anything. What could only be considered a _wolf_ had burst through the trees and gone directly for him, driving claws and teeth into his arm.

Between his own deafening screams and the whirlwind of people around him, he had barely understood the course of events. One second, his body was on fire and the next, his arm was spewing blood while he tried to gain his bearings. Whatever had attacked him was long gone and the staff weren’t planning on pursuing it as far as Ryeowook could tell.

He didn’t blame them. A human, armed or not, would probably be killed if they went toe-to-toe with that beast.

The burning of the disinfectant barely registered through the rest of the pain. Ryeowook was both glad and queasy at the thought. He took deep breaths, trying not to focus on the thick gauze wrapping tightly around his mangled forearm. Everything felt like it was spinning and he was sure that couldn’t be normal.

“Hey, hey, stay with us.”

 _Fuck you_. Ryeowook glared at the blurry figure hovering over him. He had done well enough thus far, and he believed it was time for some rest. Why did they even need him to be awake? Ryeowook’s eyes fluttered shut to muffled cries.

 

When he next awoke, it was to the beeping of a heart monitor— _his own heart monitor_ —and concerned, familiar eyes. Blinking back the sleepiness, Ryeowook licked his dry lips and tried to focus on the lovely set of eyes watching him. “Hey,” he greeted hoarsely, voice sounding somewhere between broken glass and radio static.

Kyuhyun let out a sigh, shoulder slumping as he threw both arms around the bedridden man. His fingers tangled in Ryeowook’s short hair, other arm gripping his shoulders firmly. “You scared all of us,” he scolded, frowning.

“I was scared too,” he assured, coughing lightly. Looking down, he saw that his wound had been redressed.

“They had to stitch it up,” Kyuhyun explained, reluctantly releasing his bandmate. “It was still bleeding badly when you arrived at the hospital. They gave you a transfusion to be safe.” He fussed with Ryeowook’s pillows before reaching over to the bedside table and picking up a glass of lukewarm water. Holding it up, he tilted it against Ryeowook’s lips. “Drink.”

Obediently, he sipped the liquid life, immediately feeling better already. He pushed the cup away after a moment and returned to examining his arm. “Did they tell you any details? I’m honestly not sure what happened. There was just this huge…wolf, I think, that came out of nowhere and jumped me.” Ryeowook shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t even know there were wolves in this part of the country.”

“There shouldn’t be,” Kyuhyun agreed, sitting down at the foot of his friend’s bed. “Maybe it was illegally traded here? Or maybe it escaped from an exotic animal exhibit?” He pressed a hand against Ryeowook’ blanket covered thigh, massaging it absently. “Don’t worry about it anymore. You’re not going anywhere near that variety show or those woods ever again. I can’t believe any of us agreed to you going.”

Ryeowook grimaced. “It wasn’t any of your choices. I wanted to do it and I regret my actions. Don’t get hung up thinking you somehow hurt me.” He winced as his injury throbbed. “I’ll get better. Things like this heal in no time.”

***

Three weeks had passed, and the wound still hadn’t healed at all.

Ryeowook couldn’t hide it, nor could he explain it. The throbbing got worse at night, but during the day, it was practically nonexistent. He couldn’t even recall a painful experience within the past week or so that went beyond the late-night aching. However, when he would change the gauze, angry red skin and dark stitches would stare back at him.

“You…really don’t know anything, doctor?” Leeteuk repeated, dumbstruck.

Ryeowook bit back the urge to say that this was the same thing he had been told every visit. Usually, Kyuhyun would accompany him to these appointments, but Leeteuk had been too worried and demanded that he go this time.

The doctor rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortably. “I’m sorry. I’ve really never seen such a strange phenomenon. I can only recommend that we run some blood tests and perhaps find you a doctor who specializes in animal bites.”

“Haven’t you already run plenty of blood tests?” Leeteuk demanded. “Something should be coming up.”

“It’s actually very…strange,” the doctor hedged, shifting in his stool. “His blood results are somehow _better_ than before the attack. His iron levels are more stable, his blood pressure is leveling out, and there are no signs of a lingering infection. For all intents and purposes, that wound should’ve been mostly closed up by this week. At the very least, the stitches could be taken out.” He pursed his lips. “However, you have seen the state of his arm.”

Ryeowook only half-listened, having already heard these things too many times. Chances were, they would continue talking in circles until Leeteuk or the doctor broke down from a lack of answers.

_Bzzt…bzzt…_

Discreetly, he tugged his phone out, checking the message. Kyuhyun’s photo popped up beside the chat alert. _How is the appointment?_

Ryeowook rolled his eyes. _Same as last time._

A rather unhappy looking emoticon was his only response.

 

On the way back to the dorm, Leeteuk was much quieter than Ryeowook had expected. With the way he had parted with the doctor (note: not pleasantly), it wouldn’t have been surprising to hear Leeteuk complaining non-stop. Instead, the older man was intensively reading something on his phone. Ryeowook glanced over from the corner of his eyes, surprised to find that he didn’t have to strain his vision.

_Supernatural Happenings: Understanding wolf bites_

Ryeowook snatched the phone away, heart pounding wildly. “What are you even _reading_?” he demanded, closing the internet tab swiftly. “This is not the answer.”

“How would you know?” Leeteuk retorted, going for his phone. Ryeowook yanked it away, holding it just out of reach. “We’ve been to the doctor. We’ve checked the tests. We’ve monitored you. Nothing is wrong but the wound won’t heal. Shouldn’t we start looking at…alternative possibilities?”

The younger man grimaced. “Is that what you call it? This is superstitious crap. I wasn’t attacked by a supernatural being. It was just a really mean wolf and considering where I was, it’s not surprising that a wild animal would get to me.”

“And how do you explain that it _won’t heal?_ ” he crossed his arms, cocking a brow.

“It’s better than the first day,” Ryeowook muttered, looking away.

Leeteuk took the chance to snatch his phone back. “I think you’re being a little too narrow-minded and optimistic about this situation. If we don’t solve it soon, it’ll affect your work.”

“It’s already entering winter. I don’t have to show my arms,” he argued. “It won’t affect anything.”

“But you haven’t been on a show since that one, right?”

Ryeowook shut his mouth, frowning. He didn’t want to say the truth. Of course, Leeteuk already knew, so the silence only felt stifling. But who wouldn’t fear going back on a variety show after what happened? He knew that the studio recorded shows were mostly safe, but even then, maybe another freak accident would get him somehow. What if the ceiling fixtures came loose and flattened him? What if another stray animal jumped him while arriving or departing from a recording?

“Point made,” Leeteuk interrupted his thoughts, turning back to the occult page.

***

Things were getting weird.

A little over a week had passed since the doctor’s visit with Leeteuk, and Ryeowook could tell his body wasn’t getting better. During the nights, the pain in his arm would feel like fire scorching his flesh. It would travel up through his shoulder and boil in his chest as if trying to tear out of his body. He woke up exhausted at dawn each day, and trudged through the daylight hours with little more than his head on straight.

To make matters worse for everyone, little things were aggravating Ryeowook. Small mistakes or delays in a schedule found the man snapping and barking complaints. If someone slighted him with a prank or taunt, they would have to prepare for a barrage of insults and sometimes a physical shove.

Ryeowook, in short, was losing his mind and in turn, the rest of Super Junior was too.

“It’s up to you.”

Kyuhyun looked up from his computer game, confused. “What?”

Shindong clapped him on the shoulder, a stern but pleading expression on his face. “Ryeowook. He’s out of control. We can’t stand it anymore. We had a team meeting and decided that you’ll talk to him.”

“What team meeting?” Kyuhyun demanded. “I wasn’t there.”

“That was the point. We figured you’d be against it and spill the beans to Ryeowook in the meantime too,” Shindong nodded severely.

Kyuhyun shook off the older man’s hand. “No way am I talking for you. If you all are bothered, then talk to him yourselves. I’m not doing it.” He tried to turn back to his paused game, but then a hand was closing over the power button on his laptop.

“I’m not playing around, Kyu,” Shindong threatened, one finger already pressing down.

Panic spiked through his heart before his mind could catch up. “Okay! Okay! Calm down!” he scrambled to his feet, trying to rip Shindong’s hand away from the power button. “I’ll do it, just don’t touch my computer!”

Nodding with satisfaction, Shindong headed for the door. “Thanks. I knew you’d be a big help.” And then he was gone.

Kyuhyun hated everyone.

 

When Ryeowook came out of the shower, he was surprised to see Kyuhyun sitting on his bed. Frowning at his friend, he slowly walked to the laundry hamper and tossed out his dirty clothes. “Is something wrong?” Ryeowook asked, patting his wet hair with a towel.

He licked his lips, clearly uncomfortable with what he had to say. “Do you think maybe…you’ve been acting a little funny recently?” Kyuhyun hedged, hugging the pillow in his lap a bit tighter.

“Funny how?”

“You know,” he shrugged, “losing your temper and stuff, a little bit too easily.”

Ryeowook frowned, thinking. “I don’t know. I thought that I was pretty normal. All of us are always arguing with each other, anyway, so what do you mean?”

“You shoved Sungmin off the couch yesterday night.”

“He deserved it.”

“He wanted you to pass him the popcorn.”

Ryeowook huffed, turning away to rummage through his desk drawer. “Whatever. What are you getting at?”

Shifting somewhat uneasily, Kyuhyun watched his best friend grow increasingly frustrated as he dug around in the drawer. “What are you looking for?”

“The _fucking_ gauze,” he snapped, “to wrap up this stupid arm. What else?” He waved the unbandaged limb to emphasize the point before practically throwing random items out of the drawer. 

“…it’s in the medicine cabinet. In the bathroom.” Kyuhyun explained slowly, holding the pillow up as if to shield himself against a potential physical attack. “We moved it in there so you could more easily wrap your arm after showering.”

“Oh.”

Kyuhyun made a small noise in the back of his throat as Ryeowook blushed to the tips of his ears. Feeling somewhat bad, he got up, heading to the bathroom and getting the bandages. When he returned, Ryeowook was slumped over on his bed, towel slung over both shoulders.

Approaching him cautiously, Kyuhyun waited until Ryeowook looked up at him, acknowledged him, and allowed him to come closer. Kneeling down, Kyuhyun took the injured arm and carefully applied the ointment first before beginning the wrapping process. In the beginning, he had mainly been in charge of helping Ryeowook with the task, but the longer the wound lasted, the more Ryeowook practiced just doing it himself.

“Sorry.”

Kyuhyun didn’t take his eyes off the gauze. “You don’t have to say that to me. You haven’t wronged me since this wolf bite situation started.”

“Then why are you the one talking to me about it?” Ryeowook sighed. “I know it’s the team who’s concerned. So you’re representing them. Why?”

He frowned. “As if I _wanted_ this job. They threatened me.” _Team meeting, my ass._ Kyuhyun finished wrapping the arm, carefully securing the end before looking up at Ryeowook. “Is it tight enough?”

The seated man nodded softly, almost absently. “Are they really that worried about me?” he mumbled.

Kyuhyun took a seat next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist gently. “I think they’re worried about the team getting beat up by you,” he responded, half-teasingly. He rubbed soothing circles into Ryeowook’s side with his thumb, resting his head atop the shorter man’s.

Ryeowook grunted at the jab, but otherwise didn’t reject the touch or words. Closing his eyes tiredly, he leaned into Kyuhyun, wrapping his own arm around the man. “I don’t know what’s going,” he admitted quietly, “I just…I’m so angry at everything. I feel frustrated and exhausted and I…I don’t know. The nights are the worst.”

“You’re not sleeping well?” he questioned, lips brushing against Ryeowook’s hair.

“If you didn’t sleep like the dead, you’d notice that I’m usually up half the night,” he grouched. “You breathe so heavily.”

Kyuhyun had never heard that before. In fact, most people thought he was a quiet sleeper, and given their long-term roommate status, why hadn’t Ryeowook complained before? “I see,” he finally settled on saying. It was better than arguing. “Do you want to share a bed tonight? Maybe sleeping with someone will help.”

Shrugging helplessly, Ryeowook nodded his assent. “Okay.”

 

The night passed rather harmlessly, meaning no one was shoved out of bed. However, Kyuhyun could no longer claim that he was unaware of Ryeowook’s trouble sleeping. The man’s skin felt hot to the touch a few hours after they had settled into bed. Kyuhyun had woken up sweating because of the other’s body heat.

When he checked on the unconscious Ryeowook, he found that he was actually half-awake, eyes bleary and glassy. His breaths were coming out short and quick. The veins in his neck and arms were quivering, as if trying to fight back against something. Kyuhyun had checked his pulse next, finding it rapidly beating despite his state of rest. Unsure what else to do, he had climbed out of bed and rummaged around for a bottle of fever reducers. Grabbing two, he pushed them passed Ryeowook’s lips, ordering him to swallow.

After that, the restlessness had eased only minimally, while the feverish state went on relentlessly. Kyuhyun sat watching his friend’s struggle throughout the night. There was no way he could sleep after seeing that.

Around daybreak, Ryeowook had finally calmed down completely, his heated flesh cooling down and body growing slack. Consequently, Kyuhyun was the first one awake because he had never gone back to bed. After urging Ryeowook to rest more, he ventured out into the kitchen for breakfast.

Despite the fact that most everyone had already moved out of the dorm, it was pretty common for members to crash for the night. Usually, they complained that their schedules kept them out too late and returning to their respective apartments was too much effort. As a result, it was still noisy. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook had originally been worried about how lonely the dorm would be when everyone left, but clearly, they had been overthinking it.

“You’re up early.” Leeteuk shuffled into the kitchen, already dressed for the day. His eyes were still tired, though.

“So are you,” Kyuhyun returned. “Got a schedule?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, fastening his watch, “I have a magazine photoshoot outside of Seoul. It’ll be a long drive.” He stifled a yawn, opening the fridge to find food. “Did you manage to talk with Ryeowook last night?”

The very topic sent Kyuhyun into a dark mood. “There’s something seriously wrong with him. We need him to see another doctor.”

Leeteuk immediately became alert. With a heavy sigh, Kyuhyun proceeded to explain what had happened the previous evening. The more he said, the more concerned Leeteuk looked. By the time he finished the story, the leader was ashen. Kyuhyun pursed his lips, unsure if he was supposed to say something or if Leeteuk was going to explain what had upset him so much in that story. Of course, none of it was good, but the older man’s reaction was a bit extreme.

“I think he’s been cursed.”

“Cursed?” Kyuhyun repeated, skeptically.

Leeteuk nodded fervently, lowering his voice and coming closer as if to whisper something conspiratorial. “Y’know, like _supernatural_.”

“I actually don’t think I understand,” he responded slowly, wondering if Leeteuk needed more sleep.

Rolling his eyes, the older man explained, “I was reading about it online. There’s a superstition that you will turn into a werewolf if you’re injured by one. Ryeowook was bitten pretty badly by a wolf and the wound won’t heal. That’s a fact talked about on the web too. It isn’t healing because that’s where the curse originates and so long as the curse is in effect, he’ll have that wound.”

“Let’s say you’re not crazy,” Kyuhyun offered, taking a bite of his breakfast, “then what is the effect of the curse? Ryeowook is gonna become some howling and growling fiend who’s half man-half wolf?”

“Exactly!”

“I think you need more sleep.”

***

Two days later, the inevitable happened.

The dorm was dark when Kyuhyun returned. It was already past midnight and he hadn’t been home in nearly 18 hours. Needless to say, he was ready for a relaxing shower before bed. Rolling the kinks out of his neck, he kicked off his shoes and trudged through the dark halls. From the lack of sounds, no one had slept over.

 _Thank fuck._ Kyuhyun sighed loudly, peeling off his clothes as he walked toward the bathroom. Slinging his shirt on the door handle, he was just beginning to unbuckle his belt when the strangest sound struck his ears. Was that… _growling?_ Ever so slowly, Kyuhyun released his belt and turned toward the open bathroom door.

Standing just beyond the threshold with gleaming yellow eyes and large, pointed teeth was an honest to god wolf. Surveying the creature, Kyuhyun tried to calm his erratic heartbeat while searching for an explanation. Anything. A collar? A sign? A tattoo? An injury? And then his eyes caught on a very familiar wound on his front leg.

“Don’t tell me…,” Kyuhyun trailed off, unable to believe it. He looked into the creature’s face, but found that there was barely any resemblance to his friend. Aside from the somewhat petite stature, the wolf was nothing like it’s human counterpart. “Ryeowook?”

The wolf snarled, taking a step forward.

Kyuhyun held his ground, scrambling to remember how to assert dominance over dogs. He knew that showing weakness was not the right choice, even if his knees felt like jelly. Taking a steadying breath, he kept his eyes locked on those menacingly yellow ones. “Are you in there, Ryeowook?” he asked again.

Nothing.

Suddenly highly aware of his bare chest, Kyuhyun internally cursed himself. Even if a shirt couldn’t protect him against those claws and teeth, he would have the illusion of at least _something_ standing between him and a very real threat.

Without warning, heavy paws slammed against his chest, hurling him backwards into the bathroom. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and his back cracked against the tile. Wheezing for air, Kyuhyun struggled to push the wolf off of him. Its teeth snapped viciously, drool sliding down from the corner of its mouth.

Kyuhyun heaved hard, groaning with the effort to roll the creature over. It swung its limbs wildly, but Kyuhyun dodged each time, coughing harshly as he swung his entire body weight over the wolf. Straddling its rippling backside, he slammed both hands down on the back of its neck. The beast writhed angrily, nearly throwing Kyuhyun off multiple times. However, the man held fast, adrenaline giving him strength.

Forcefully, he dug his nails into the thick fur of the wolf’s neck, dragging its head up slightly before shoving it back into the bathroom tile. “Stay,” Kyuhyun snapped, not releasing the pressure on the animal.

Several moments passed before the beast reluctantly stopped fighting. It’s tensed muscles carefully uncoiled, claws retracting from their extended state. His bared teeth were slowly pulled back as well, until half-lidded yellow eyes were the last menacing thing about the wolf. Kyuhyun watched the creature for a long time, refusing to believe that everything would be okay if he let him up. It seemed too risky and he wasn’t in the mood for risks after being nearly killed by his best-friend-turned-werewolf.

After what must have been an hour, Kyuhyun’s arms and legs ached from keeping such a rigid position. Underneath him, the wolf seemed to be… _sleeping_. Blinking a few times, Kyuhyun tried to recall when exactly the beast had fallen asleep. Shouldn’t he have noticed something like that? More so, how was he able to sleep in that position? It couldn’t have been comfortable to have someone pinning you down and digging their nails into your fur.

Kyuhyun carefully rose to his feet, backing slowly out of the bedroom. He silently grabbed the bathroom door, shutting it behind him without a sound. Turning on the lights in the hallway, he shuffled to the living room and quickly slid the coffee table out. He pushed it flush against the closed bathroom door. Going for the dining room chairs next, he stacked two of those atop the table, hooking one of them under the door knob. Just as he went to look for more items, the carefully barricaded door burst open. Cracked wood and groaning hinges sent visions of death through Kyuhyun’s mind.

He flinched as the chairs and tables were shoved out of the way, toppling over. Planning to just make a run for it, Kyuhyun hurried out of the hallway, but only made it to the living room before he was once again being tackled to the ground. This time, however, the wolf merely nuzzled his throat, licking lightly at his flesh before settling down on top of him.

Kyuhyun swallowed hard, unsure what to do. His body ached with the weight of the creature, but pushing him off seemed like a seriously bad idea. Looking around for what was within reach, he grabbed a pillow off the couch, stuffing it underneath his own head for some support. _This is going to be another long night…_

With that, he closed his eyes and tried to think happy thoughts—things that didn’t involve his best friend becoming a full-fledged werewolf.

To be expected, that tactic was rather unsuccessful.

 

When he awoke the next morning, it was to extreme exhaustion and a feverish awareness of the previous night. Bolting upright, he looked around wildly for any sign of the wolf. The only things that made him believe it hadn’t been just a terrible dream were the copious amounts of fur stuck to his pants and the broken bathroom door hanging off it’s hinges.

Rising slowly, Kyuhyun groaned at the ache in his joints and back. He was too damn old to be sleeping on the floor all night. A sneeze worked it’s way up his throat and nose, sending him reeling. _Fuck._ Hugging his bare chest, he rubbed either arm to try and warm himself up. Sleeping on the floor shirtless in November was a recipe for disaster.

Trudging toward the bathroom, he peered inside and breathed a small sigh of relief. Empty. He turned warily toward his and Ryeowook’s bedroom. For a second, he considered putting it off a bit longer and going to take a shower to warm up. Shaking away the fear, Kyuhyun grabbed the doorknob, twisting and pushing it open.

Immediately, he was bumping into a slight form. Ryeowook made a surprised noise, stumbling backwards. Frowning up at Kyuhyun, he said, “What are you rushing into the room for?”

“You…,” he looked his friend up and down. Human. Kyuhyun suddenly grabbed Ryeowook by both shoulders, searching his face for any signs of that _creature_ from last night. Pretty brown eyes and delicate facial features glared back at him. Fluffy hair curled around his fair face, looking freshly washed. A large sweater swallowed Ryeowook’s body up. Kyuhyun snatched his arm, yanking the sleeve up and inspecting the newly wrapped bandages. “You’re...normal.”

“Is there any reason I wouldn’t be?”

Kyuhyun wanted to scream. Instead, he calmly tugged Ryeowook’s sleeve back into place. “When you woke up this morning, where were you?”

His face flushed bright red. Looking away, he said, “Look, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to do that to you. Or whatever it is we did, let’s just forget--”

“ _What?_ ” Kyuhyun interrupted.

Ryeowook shot him a guilty look. “It was a mistake! I wouldn’t have done that if I was in my right mind!”

Neither of them heard the front door clicking open, too absorbed in their argument.

Indignantly, Kyuhyun snatched his friend by the collar. “What do you mean _a mistake?_ You’re just going to dismiss what you did to me last night as a simple mistake? God, I could barely fight back. It looked like you were going to eat me.”

Ryeowook’s entire face paled before bursting bright red with mortification. “I would _never_! And you could totally fight back! You’re bigger than me,” he muttered the last part, clearly unhappy with the admission.

“Not when you tackle me to the ground,” Kyuhyun snapped back, “I couldn’t get you off of me the entire night. You sat on my hips all fucking night--”

“--Uh, guys, before this gets any more graphic, please acknowledge that we’re here.”

They froze.

Kyuhyun sucked in a sharp breath between clenched teeth. Turning around reluctantly, he eyes the rest of Super Junior who were crowded in the hallway with them. Several looked queasy, while Heechul looked particularly interested in hearing the rest. None of those reactions were what he wanted to see.

Rubbing his face tiredly, he let go of Ryeowook, pushing inside their room to look for a sweater. He tugged one on quickly and returned to the hallway where no one had moved an inch. Clearing his throat, Kyuhyun nodded to the living room. “I think we all need to sit down.”

“Agreed,” Leeteuk muttered, ushering the rest into the main room.

Ryeowook stopped Kyuhyun before he could get very far. “I don’t want to talk to them about _this_! It’s private!”

“Well, they’ve already seen too much. We can’t just not talk about it.” _The fucking bathroom door is falling off. We can’t let that go._

As the pair shuffled into the room, they warily eyed their expectant bandmates. Kyuhyun started talking first, saying, “You might not believe this, but last night I came home and was going to take a shower. Suddenly, I saw a wolf staring at me from the hallway--”

“-- _What?_ ” Shindong. Eunhyuk. Siwon. Heechul. Kangin. Donghae. Yesung.

“--I WAS RIGHT!” Leeteuk. _Damn him._

Kyuhyun huffed an annoyed sigh. “Yes, a wolf--”

“--So you and Ryeo-ah aren’t having sex?” Heechul cut in, crestfallen.

“Wait, what?” Kyuhyun did a double take, noticing only then that everyone else seemed to be thinking the same thing as Heechul. Turning to Ryeowook, he saw a similar expression. “Is that what you thought we did?” he hissed, embarrassed.

“I woke up naked on top of you!” Ryeowook whisper-yelled back, flushed to the tips of his ears. “What else was I going to guess happened?”

Kyuhyun sank to the floor. “I need a drink.”

***

“So, you’re telling us that Ryeowook has been cursed and turns into a wolf when the moon is full?” Shindong repeated, looking increasingly skeptical.

Leeteuk nodded firmly, turning to Kyuhyun for confirmation. “We have solid proof now that one of us has been attacked.”

“I didn’t purposefully attack him,” Ryeowook mumbled, legs pulled up to his chest. “I don’t even remember anything.”

A part of Kyuhyun wanted to comfort his friend, but the other part was still trying to wrap its head around everything that had happened. Their managers had kindly cancelled their morning schedules, giving them until noon to get their shit together. It was a big enough emergency, apparently. Kyuhyun hardly wanted to argue. He felt like he could sleep for an eternity after what occurred.

“And to clarify, no sex happened,” Heechul added.

“Correct,” Kyuhyun ground out.

“Well then, when is the next full moon?” Siwon prompted.

Immediately, Leeteuk was responding, “December 3rd.”

“Are we locking Ryeowook up on that day?” Eunhyuk.

“Well, let’s ask Kyuhyun,” Leeteuk offered, turning to the youngest member, “do you think we have to lock him up? And speaking of which, how did you get him to calm down? I can’t imagine that he just let you live out of goodwill.”

Kyuhyun blinked. “Oh.” He hesitated then, glancing at Ryeowook who was watching him curiously. Somewhat awkwardly, Kyuhyun peered around at the others to see if they really were interested, or if they’d let him off.

Expectant eyes met his.

 _Okay. Guess we’re doing this._ “I can show you.” Kyuhyun stood, walking over to stand in front of Ryeowook. The latter watched him, body tensing automatically. Locking eyes with the man on the couch, Kyuhyun slowly reached out, fingers brushing his cheek before curling around the back of his neck.

Ryeowook was rigid.

Without further warning, Kyuhyun tightened his grip and shoved Ryeowook face first into the couch. When he was met with resistance, Kyuhyun leaned down, pressing more forcefully. “Stay.”

Abruptly, Ryeowook slumped, body losing all its strength.

Kyuhyun let go, looking up. “That’s it.”

“So...you asserted dominance over Ryeowook? Like a dog?” Eunhyuk recapped, emphasizing each word.

“Or,” Heechul began, “like a really hot dom making his partner submit.”

Ryeowook chucked a pillow at Heechul.

“No, no, I think both of them have good points,” Leeteuk stated, thoughtfully, “we don’t know how to break this curse, nor do we know if it’ll fade on its own. It’s good if we have someone who can keep Ryeowook’s wolf side under control. Kyuhyun, we’ll be trusting you with this.”

“Oh no, no, no, not again--”

“--this is for the sake of everyone’s safety,” Leeteuk retorted, jaw firm.

Kyuhyun glared. He hated when he used his ‘leader voice’. “I was the one who was almost killed! Someone else can just assert dominance.”

“Oh, sweet Kyu,” Heechul laughed, “you can’t just tell a _sub_ to change masters all of a sudden. If they’ve already claimed you, then that’s that.”

“Why do you know so much about this?” Kyuhyun sighed.

The older man just smirked.

Kyuhyun shuddered. _Nevermind. I never want to know._ Glancing down at Ryeowook, his expression softened. He was gazing blankly down at the couch, still half curled against the cushions. “Hey, are you alright?” Kyuhyun asked quietly, crouching down in front of Ryeowook. Brushing the back of his hand against the man’s cheek, he tried to coax a response.

Ryeowook just grimaced, eyes growing hard despite the gentle treatment.

“Sorry,” Kyuhyun murmured, thumb gliding across the smooth skin of his jaw.

Subconsciously, Ryeowook nuzzled into the touch.

“Perfect! That’s how you do it!” Heechul clapped.

 _I’m gonna kill someone_. Kyuhyun pulled back, glowering at his friends. “Are we done now? I barely slept a wink last night and I have a full recording session this afternoon.”

Reluctantly, the members got up, shuffling around and gathering what things they had brought with them. Kyuhyun paused as they were heading toward the door, suddenly being struck with an obvious question. “Wait. Why were you all here this morning?”

“Oh! Right!” Shindong exchanged glances with the others. “The company is planning our next world tour. We just came to tell you guys the news as soon as possible. But...given what we know now, it’s not gonna be such a simple discussion.”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun agreed, looking even more exhausted than before. Now he was responsible for preparing for a world tour while also taming his best friend?

Ryeowook was still quiet as everyone made their way out of the dorm. It wasn’t until the door had shut that he spoke up. “I’m sorry. About everything. I wish it wasn’t like this.” The words were stilted but quickly blurted, as if he struggled between an urge to snap and an urge to express his sorrow.

“You didn’t ask for this,” Kyuhyun shook his head, “and I’m not blaming you. It’s a hard situation for all of us. Especially you, though.” He didn’t know exactly what got to Ryeowook in that moment, but tears were suddenly pricking the latter’s eyes.

Wiping at the tears fiercely, Ryeowook tried to calm himself down, shoulders shaking. “I’m so scared. What if I hurt someone again?”

“Hey, you didn’t hurt anyone,” Kyuhyun was immediately wrapping the smaller man in his arms, cooing into his hair, “I wasn’t injured at all. You were just sleeping on top of me all night. My body aches because I’m old and slept on the floor.”

Ryeowook hiccuped, burrowing his face into the man’s chest. “Okay.”

“Do you believe me?” Kyuhyun tilted his face up, making their eyes meet.

“I do,” Ryeowook mumbled, body calming down the longer he was held.

Tucking him back under his chin, Kyuhyun rubbed his back. On the bright side of everything, Ryeowook had never been more docile and a part of Kyuhyun thought he could get used to this.

***

Kyuhyun took it back. He couldn’t get used to this.

Each week that passed only put more and more of Super Junior on edge. The pressure from their world tour practices were building up and were only further aggravated by the knowledge that Ryeowook was getting closer to another transformation. Despite Leeteuk’s apparent unending interest, the man had made it clear he wanted to be nowhere near the dorm when Ryeowook turned again. Furthermore, the members had yet to figure out a game plan for dealing with these monthly transformations when they were overseas.

If their schedule seemed erratic right now, it would be unbearable with the late night practice sessions at stadiums and even later meal times. Soon, they would be together almost all hours of the day and doing tour prep until 1 or 2am each night. Without a doubt, it would overlap with at least one full moon.

On a better note though, Ryeowook’s moodiness and aggression had lessened significantly since they figured out Kyuhyun could tame their bandmate. Or, as Heechul liked to say, “Make him submit, Kyu!”

The rest of Super Junior had quickly jumped on the teasing. Kyuhyun was not amused.

 

December 3rd finally came. Everyone in the dorm had cleared out and left the two of them alone together. They had been pretending nothing was wrong for the past hour and now they were sitting facing each other as the clock struck midnight.

It was almost instantaneous.

He watched as Ryeowook collapsed, body convulsing as thick hair covered his body and tense muscles tore apart his clothing. In a matter of minutes, his best friend was a four legged beast once more, tail whipping back and forth as if preparing for something.

Kyuhyun had only a moment to brace himself as the wolf leaped at him, pushing him back against the couch. Grunting at the force, he caught the animal, barely able to keep his bearings as a wet tongue licked all over his face and neck. Was this how werewolves were supposed to act? Or was it purely a Ryeowook-wolf thing?

Sighing, he calmed the excited wolf—puppy?—and rubbed its furry head. A happy little noise worked its way up his throat as he pressed harder against Kyuhyun’s hand. “I really don’t know what my life has become,” he muttered, wryly.

The wolf laid its head down on Kyuhyun’s lap, bright yellow eyes closing slowly.

Kyuhyun closed his hand around the back of the creature’s neck, rubbing firmly and smoothly. It howled with pleasure, sinking deeper into Kyuhyun’s lap. He shook his head in astonishment. _Seriously...what is going on?_

Making himself as comfortable as possible, he settled in for the night. Chances were, he wasn’t going to be getting anywhere near his bed. Looking around for something to support his neck, he grabbed a very familiar throw pillow and wedged it underneath his head. Kyuhyun leaned back with a sigh and laid one hand in the wolf’s fur. At least he wouldn’t be cold.

_This isn’t terrible, I guess..._

With that, the second full moon passed peacefully.

 

And then the morning came.

Kyuhyun awoke first, a crick in his neck and a weight over his body. Pushing himself up on his elbows, he surveyed the area and found a very naked, very asleep Ryeowook on top of him. Their limbs were clumsily tangled together, both of Ryeowook’s hands underneath Kyuhyun’s shirt, their hips flush.

On one hand, who wouldn’t be happy to see a beautiful, naked person on top of them? On the other, this was his best friend whose clothes were in shreds from turning into a wolf some six hours prior.

Extracting himself, Kyuhyun grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and threw it over Ryeowook. He immediately burrowed into it, body shaking slightly from the cold. Going back to their room, Kyuhyun busied himself with pulling on some thicker sweats, a jacket, and hat. A minute later, he was ready to brave the December chill.

Walking a few blocks down the street, he stopped at a local bakery and ordered both of their favorites. No one else would be coming near the dorm with a fifty foot pole, so he didn’t bother considering if there would be more breakfast guests. Kyuhyun watched the shop owner carefully place each of his orders into a pink cardboard box, trying to reconcile the normalcy with his recent lifestyle changes.

“You know, I’m surprised to see you here.”

He blinked, shaking himself out of his thoughts long enough to register that the shop owner was speaking to him. The auntie was smiling with amusement. “What do you mean?” Kyuhyun frowned.

“Well, usually at this hour, it would be Ryeowook doing a food run. I rarely see you this early in the morning,” she chuckled. “Is he very tired?”

“Something like that,” Kyuhyun responded vaguely, looking away.

The shop owner taped the box shut and passed it over the counter. “Ah, I see. Young love is such a good thing. I’m happy that you two have been together for so long.”

“What?”

She laughed heartily. “You don’t have to hide it from me. Ryeowook is always talking about you. He sounds just like a housewife, sometimes,” her voice fell to a hushed whisper, as if revealing a juicy bit of gossip. “At first, I was a bit shocked, but now I see that it’s a very healthy relationship between you two. Make sure you cherish him properly.”

“We aren’t--that’s not--y’know, okay. Fine. Thanks. I’ll cherish him. Have a good day.” Kyuhyun placed exact change on the counter and grabbed the box of pastries. With a wave, he left the shop as fast as possible. Walking briskly down the road, he tried to ignore the growing awareness that just _maybe_ everyone thought he was in love with his best friend.

Scratch that. Everyone thought they were _mutually_ in love.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: smuttiness ahead.

 

Super Junior’s world tour kicked off on January 15th. Behind the smiles and waves and laughter was the underlying, very real, fear of the coming days. They (read: Kyuhyun) had successfully passed three full moons without problems. However, it had also been in the dorm under less stressful circumstances.

As things stood, they would be living in hotel rooms for the foreseeable future and when they were in South Korea, chances were that they’d be crashing at the dorm for convenience’s sake. Kyuhyun wanted to reassure the members that things would be fine, but he also had never see Ryeowook in his wolf form around _other_ people. Would he be as docile? Or would he seize the opportunity to attack them all in blind rage?

The possibilities were bleak.

It didn’t help that for some reason, Ryeowook’s moods were getting worse the closer they approached the fourth full moon. Somewhat different from previously, the nighttime pain had eased but his daytime behaviors were more...wolfish.

Kyuhyun wondered if Ryeowook had even noticed these slight changes in his demeanor. It would seem maybe not as the man continued on as if nothing were wrong. Considering the only person who had actually encountered the wolf was Kyuhyun, he had a particular sensitivity to all things Ryeowook related now. The man himself couldn’t even recall these full moon episodes, which made it all the worse. And with the other members refusing to witness it, Kyuhyun had no one to consult but himself.

“Have you been feeling weird lately?” He finally broached the topic with Ryeowook a week into their tour. They had just finished another show and were thankfully settled in their shared hotel room for the night.

Ryeowook made a face. “What did I do?” he deadpanned.

“Nothing, nothing,” Kyuhyun corrected hastily, followed by, “you’ve been moodier recently. I was wondering if something was hurting you or bothering you.” His eyes traced the stiff lines of Ryeowook’s shoulders. Despite having taken a shower just then, not one bit of his body was relaxed.

Ryeowook shrugged, wincing. He rubbed one shoulder, seemingly noticing the strain finally. “I guess...I’ve been a little uncomfortable. My muscles are aching and no matter how much I stretch, I can’t get them to relax. I thought I had been dealing with it, but is it affecting my behavior?”

“Just a bit,” Kyuhyun hedged.

“A lot?”

“The others are just anxious,” he explained, reaching out to a pouting Ryeowook. “I know you’re doing your best. You’re suffering the most out of us. I know that.” Kyuhyun rubbed the short man’s wrists gently, careful not to press down on the exposed wound. Glancing down at it, he gestured for Ryeowook to sit down. “I’ll bandage it.”

Not protesting, Ryeowook obediently took a seat and handed his roommate the roll of gauze. With practiced ease, Kyuhyun wrapped it up, all the while studying the wound. It didn’t look like it was going to close anytime soon, but it did look significantly better than a month ago. The stitches could probably be removed in another month. Kyuhyun secured the end of the gauze, continuing to  hold onto Ryeowook’s arm.

“Kyu?”

He blinked. Releasing Ryeowook quickly, he looked up at the confused man. “Let me give you a massage. Maybe your inner wolf is the tensed one. I can probably help.”

Somewhat unsure, Ryeowook nodded. “Okay,” he stretched the word out, adding, “how do you want me?”

 _What a loaded question._ Kyuhyun shook away the thoughts. Clearing his throat, he patted the plush bed. “Take your shirt off and lay down on your stomach.”

Tugging the loose tee off, he let it flutter to the comforter before positioning himself carefully. Ryeowook tilted his head back to look at Kyuhyun. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun grunted, getting up and going to the bathroom. He returned a moment later with the complementary bottle of lotion. Popping it open, he spread a small amount on his hands before straddling Ryeowook’s waist and pressing both slick hands against his tense shoulders. “Just take deep breaths, okay?”

“‘Kay,” Ryeowook sighed.

For a few minutes, they were silent--Kyuhyun working at the kinks in his back, and Ryeowook trying to focus on his breathing. Although he knew massages took a while, Kyuhyun was somewhat surprised that the effect wasn’t immediate. The wolf had always relaxed right away, and even that one time… _Oh._

“Ryeowook?”

“Yes?”

“I’m gonna try something.”

Before he could reply, Kyuhyun’s familiar fingers curled around the nape of his neck, squeezing firmly as he pushed Ryeowook deeper into the sheets. His other hand continued working at his shoulder.

Like flipping a switch, Ryeowook’s body grew slack. The tension was draining away muscle by muscle. Kyuhyun stared in awe, but never slowed ministrations. Carefully releasing Ryeowook’s neck, he went back to massaging his body. By the time he worked his way down to the man’s lower back, soft snores had filled the room.

Kyuhyun couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips. Without thinking, he leaned over him, brushing the lightest kiss against Ryeowook’s hair.

It was then that the door clicked open and Leeteuk and Eunhyuk came stumbling in with a video camera. They stopped dead in their tracks, stupid grins frozen stiff.

 _Of course_. Kyuhyun groaned, trying to think of how best to explain himself. “I swear it’s not what you think.”

“HEECHUL!” And then they were scrambling out of the room, howling.

***

The fourth full moon struck at the worst possible time.

Like clockwork, Ryeowook collapsed at the stroke of midnight. In a matter of minutes, he had burst through his clothes, transforming into a snarling beast. What stood out as different though was the location. They had been staying late at the stadium to run through the setlist one more time before the performance tomorrow night.

It was currently Donghae and Eunhyuk’s duet stage, so the rest were lounging in the waiting room, monitoring their performance on the television. For whatever reason, everyone had forgotten the day, including Kyuhyun, and nearly lose their heads when Ryeowook was suddenly writhing on the floor.

Only then did it dawn on them what was about to come.

Panicked, half of them made for the door, but by the time they managed to get it open, Ryeowook had already been replaced by the wolf, powerful muscles rippling beneath his thick fur. Yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously at the unwelcome faces. Turning around in a slow circle, he made a note of each member before looking over at Kyuhyun who calmly sat in a chair.

“Come.” Kyuhyun ordered, without breaking eye contact.

Dropping his head, the wolf trotted over, only looking up when Kyuhyun’s hand wove into his fur, rubbing his head affectionately.

“Good.”

The wolf crooned.

Pointing at the members, Kyuhyun said, “They are friends. You will behave.” The tone of his voice probably conveyed more than the words. Either way, the wolf seemed to understand and bowed its head once more. Glancing at where his bandmates crowded around the door, he sighed. “You can come closer, he won’t attack for now.”

Another minute passed without any movement.

“I’m serious,” Kyuhyun frowned. “He’s harmless right now. Just come closer. Your nervous energy will make him nervous.” He continued petting the wolf, moving off the chair to rub it’s back.

The first to give it a shot was Heechul. He took a tentative step in the wolf’s direction. “Ryeowook?” he called softly.

“He doesn’t answer to that name,” Kyuhyun shook his head. “I don’t really call him anything either though...so I don’t know what name he prefers.”

Heechul nodded, but his eyes were confused. Nevertheless, he got close enough to touch and then stopped. The wolf turned away from Kyuhyun for a moment, sniffing Heechul’s hand. A bit reluctantly, he offered his head for a pet. Only after receiving another confirmation from Kyuhyun did Heechul lightly run his fingers over the top of the wolf’s head.

When the wolf did nothing but obediently take the petting, Heechul knelt down, ruffling his fur. “He’s pretty cute,” he remarked, smiling at the stiffly seated wolf.

“He doesn’t seem to like Heechul that much,” Leeteuk commented, watching from a distance.

The man in question frowned. “You can’t compare me to Kyuhyun. It’s like the real Ryeowook. He’s always been biased toward the maknae.”

“That’s not true,” Kyuhyun began to argue, but it died on his tongue at the multiple glares he was shot. _Okay, maybe it is true._ He shut his mouth and returned to studying the politely behaving wolf. It really had taken orders well. How was he supposed to reward it?

The others slowly made their way closer, waiting their turns before offering their hands for the wolf to sniff. Each one in turn received reluctant approval. Kyuhyun never left the wolf’s side, afraid of what would happen to the others if he did. He knew very well that the creature wouldn’t behave half as well if he was alone.

“So...this is it?” Shindong questioned. “I was really expecting some hulking, scary werewolf.”

“I think Ryeowook was a poor choice to curse,” Kyuhyun mused, “he doesn’t have it in him to be a terrifying werewolf.”

“Or this was the best choice,” Leeteuk corrected, still not coming closer, “at least we know he’s more of a puppy than a danger to society.”

Kyuhyun nodded. “It does make training him easier. He listens well.”

“I bet Ryeowook would love to hear you say that,” Heechul smirked.

_My life sucks._

 

Now that the nature of the transformations had been clarified, the members were far less stressed about the Ryeowook situation. Some of them even seemed _excited_ to see the wolf form again. Kyuhyun wasn’t sure how he felt about the turn of events and he definitely wasn’t sure if Ryeowook liked the increased attention.

The fifth full moon occurred while they were back in South Korea for a break, so only a few members were there to witness it in the dorm. 

The sixth full moon happened in their hotel room in Taiwan, during which Kyuhyun refused to let anyone inside. The wolf didn’t seem in the mood for company, having curled up next to Kyuhyun on the bed and quickly fallen asleep. 

However, the days leading up to the seventh full moon were the most worrisome yet. Rather than being just irritable, Ryeowook was both _sad and angry_. If he wasn’t spewing verbal attacks, he was crying about anything and everything. Sometimes it was as small a mishap as dropping his drink. Other times, he would sob late into the night for messing up a line of lyrics or a dance step during a concert. Kyuhyun didn’t know how to remind his friend that Super Junior had a reputation for being playful on stage. A few mistakes here and there were endearing to the fans--probably even expected.

No one else seemed to be bothered by the mood swings anymore. They figured it would pass or, if it didn’t, the one who’d have to deal with it was Kyuhyun, so why worry? He had been less than pleased when they said that.

The jokes and laughter stopped though after Ryeowook snapped a prop mic in half.

Kyuhyun waited until they were back in their hotel room to talk about it, and until then, he dodged the glares and worried whispers from the members and staff. Clearly no one else was going to deal with this, and the last thing he needed was for more people to bark orders at him about how he _“needed to handle it already.”_

It was hardly a struggle this time to tell Ryeowook what was wrong, By the time they were both back in the room and getting ready to talk, Ryeowook was looking smaller than ever, bottom lip wobbling.

 _Oh lord._ Kyuhyun sat down beside him gingerly. “Is it a wolf thing? Or is it a human thing?” he began, hoping the question was easy enough.

“I don’t know,” Ryeowook muttered. “I can kind of feel him stirring these days,” he explained, looking a bit queasy at the thought, “but I can’t tell when he’s upset, and I’m upset. It feels...like we’re both just feeling the same things these days. It’s scary. Do you think I’m becoming a wolf? Like I just won’t be human anymore one day?”

He didn’t have an answer, but being silent didn’t seem like the correct response. “Come here.” Kyuhyun held open his arms, not surprised when Ryeowook practically hurled into him. Grunting from the force, Kyuhyun hugged him close. “In my lap.”

Wordlessly, Ryeowook shifted himself around until he was straddling the other man’s lap. Their faces hovered inches apart. Kyuhyun stroked his cheeks, rubbed his shoulders, and slowly made his way down his body until he was massaging his slender waist. Tangling both arms around Kyuhyun’s neck, Ryeowook pressed his face against his throat. “This is nice,” he admitted softly.

“I figured,” the other man muttered, chuckling when Ryeowook whined. “Maybe you’re having problems because it’s been over half a year since this whole curse thing started. I don’t think you should jump to conclusions and say the wolf is going to overtake you, but I think we’ll have to keep monitoring you.” Kyuhyun slid warm hands under the lightweight shirt, fingers running up and down Ryeowook’s back. His eyes lowered slightly at the sound of Ryeowook’s breath hitching.  Teasingly, Kyuhyun dragged a fingertip down the line of his spine, smirking when the man arched.

“S-Stop it,” Ryeowook breathed, fingers suddenly curling into the other’s shirt. His lips were warm and wet against Kyuhyun’s neck, making the latter swallow hard. “I’ve been feeling…really weird recently. You shouldn’t touch me so much.”

Kyuhyun ignored him. Bending his finger, he scraped light circles into Ryeowook’s lower back, watching his reactions closely. It seemed to cause an even better response than when he was being gentle. “Do you like when it hurts?” Kyuhyun’s voice pressed against Ryeowook’s ear, making him flinch and flush.

Curiously, Kyuhyun ran his hands over the man’s torso, finding that the muscles were losing tension once again. Grabbing him by the nape of his neck wasn’t the only way to calm him down apparently. “Ryeowook?” he called gently.

“Mm?”

“Do you wanna try something?”

Dazed, Ryeowook nodded.

Kyuhyun bit his lip, wondering if this was a good idea. The image of a mic being snapped in half fluttered through his mind. _Okay. Yes. Desperate times._ Resolving himself, he nudged Ryeowook off his lap. The man obliged reluctantly. Kyuhyun pointed at the bed. “Take off your clothes.”

“Huh?”

“Do it.” As if being pulled by a string, Ryeowook straightened and moved as he was told, tugging his shirt off and then his pants. Kyuhyun waved him away when he went for his underwear. “No need.”

Nervously, Ryeowook laid back, feeling extremely exposed and flustered. “What are we—” he yelped as Kyuhyun grabbed both of his wrists, holding him down to the bed.

“Is this okay?” Kyuhyun murmured, hovering above him.

“Y-Yeah.”

Nodding, he released him and stood up. “Stay.” Kyuhyun smiled with satisfaction when Ryeowook’s mouth shut and his body went still. Walking over to his suitcase, Kyuhyun tugged out a plain black necktie. Kneeling over Ryeowook once more, he took both of those slim wrists and bound them above his head. “Are you still okay?” he checked, eyes searching Ryeowook’s.

“Definitely,” he sighed, expression nearly blissful.

Kyuhyun ignored the way his heart leaped at the sight. _Just helping a friend. Just helping a friend. Just helping a friend._ He chanted the mantra endlessly as he took a steadying breath and pressed a chaste kiss to Ryeowook’s throat. The man underneath him jolted. Opening his mouth just a bit wider, Kyuhyun scraped his teeth across the flesh, biting harder and harder with each kiss. By the time he was practically sinking his teeth into Ryeowook’s neck, the man was crying out, writhing beneath him.

_Fuck. Just a friend. Just a friend. Just a friend. He’s so fucking beautiful._

Moving back, he licked his lips, smiling at Ryeowook’s breathless expression. “How are you feeling?” he dragged his thumb across the dark hickey forming at the base of his throat.

Ryeowook nodded quickly, pleadingly. “Good. Really good.” 

“Mm, I see.” Kyuhyun chuckled, moving lower on his lithe body. He sucked a mark harshly into the skin just above Ryeowook’s heart, thriving on the sounds pouring from that lovely mouth. With increasing focus, Kyuhyun mapped his chest and stomach with his lips, very blatantly ignoring the growing problem in both of their pants.

“ _Kyuhyun_ ,” Ryeowook groaned as the other man pressed a long, wet kiss into his inner thigh. His entire body arched off the bed, eyes shutting tightly and arms straining against the tie.

Shuddering at the sound of his name, Kyuhyun dug his teeth into the supple flesh as he squeezed the other thigh with firm fingers. He hungrily eyed the tented underwear just inches away from his face. Would that be crossing a line? How many lines had he already crossed? Would Ryeowook regret it in the morning?

Kyuhyun closed his eyes, trying to think rationally when all of his blood had already drained south. _This is exactly why people make bad decisions when they’re turned on._ Shaking himself free as best he could, he leaned up, eyes locking on Ryeowook’s absolutely wrecked face. His mouth went dry, unable to process anything beyond giving him anything and everything he wanted.

“Why did you stop?” Ryeowook squirmed, hips lifting off the mattress. “Please don’t stop. _Please_.”

“I…Should we…,” Kyuhyun struggled to think of how to put together a sentence, and finally settled on, “We shouldn’t.”

“ _Why?_ ” he whined, desperately, “Anything. Anything is fine, just _please help me_.” Ryeowook tried to sit up, and Kyuhyun was immediately shoving him back. A relieved sigh slipped from the smaller man’s lips. “Yeah, that’s fine too. That’s _really_ _good_.”

“Pushing you?” Kyuhyun blinked.

Ryeowook turned redder. “Biting me, pushing me—all of it is great. I don’t know why,” he shook his head, looking slightly ashamed, but mostly hopeful.

“Okay. On your hands and knees.”

Readily, he rolled over, glancing back at Kyuhyun with more desire than he had ever received from any other partner.

“I’m pulling them down.” Kyuhyun warned, one fingers already hooked around the elastic band of Ryeowook’s underwear. He received a needy nod and swiftly dragged them down to his knees. Taking a deep breath, Kyuhyun laid a solid hand against one smooth cheek, rubbing it slowly. He leaned down, planting a firm kiss against it before pulling his hand back and slapping it hard.

Ryeowook’s voice burst from him, surprised and pleased. He wriggled around. “ _Again_.”

Not one to deny Ryeowook of anything at the moment, Kyuhyun repeated the action, ears ringing with the sound. He massaged the reddening flesh softly after the fifth slap, showering it with kisses. “How is it?” he mumbled.

“Perfect,” Ryeowook gasped, face hidden between his bound arms.

Shifting to the untouched cheek, Kyuhyun went through the same motions with what he hoped was equal force. His ears were buzzing, throat parched. He reached around, fingers curling the slightest bit around Ryeowook. The man jerked forward, stifling a cry in the bed sheets as he came.

Kyuhyun stared. He had never seen that happen to anyone before. “Was it…good?” he asked staggeringly, fingers releasing Ryeowook gently.

The man just nodded, slumping over, chest rising and falling rapidly. “Amazing.” His eyes fluttered, struggling to stay awake.

With fumbling fingers, Kyuhyun undid the restraints, tossing his wrinkled tie aside. Rubbing soothing circles into the reddened wrists, he placed light kisses against the delicate skin. “I’m glad,” he murmured, still studying Ryeowook’s blissful state. Kyuhyun wasn’t even sure if he had done anything particularly astounding to deserve such an enthusiastic response. Was this really what Ryeowook was into?

Grabbing the man’s clothes, Kyuhyun helped him put his nightwear back on. Once he was dressed again, Kyuhyun prepared to lay him down in bed but paused at the sight of Ryeowook’s drying release on the sheets.

“We’re sleeping in the other bed,” he sighed, tugging one of Ryeowook’s arms over his shoulder and pulling the near dead weight man with him. Dropping his friend unceremoniously on the fluffy mattress, Kyuhyun tugged the comforter aside and tucked him in.

“You’re not sleeping, Kyu?” Ryeowook mumbled, eyes already shut.

“I have to do something first,” he responded, cracking a strained grin. He received a nonsensical mutter before he turned away and headed for the bathroom. Shutting the door behind himself, Kyuhyun let loose a bone rattling sigh. “Cold showers can be refreshing. Yes. Definitely.” And then he turned the knob to the iciest setting.

Ryeowook’s moodiness had officially been fixed.

***

Kyuhyun trudged along through the eighth full moon and ninth full moon all while ignoring the increasingly loud and _not-subtle-at-all_ comments being thrown his way from all directions. He knew his fellow brothers sucked at being sensitive, but for the first time, he was the extreme butt of the jokes and they were mortifying.

After his and Ryeowook’s discovery before the seventh full moon, their relationship had quickly escalated out of control. Of course, Kyuhyun wasn’t complaining. In fact, he was probably more ashamed than anything because he _liked it_.

Being powerful. Being—as much as he hated saying it— _dominant_ , was a shockingly thrilling role. Or, perhaps it wasn’t just the part he played. It was the person begging and pleading and submitting so sweetly to him that really made things worthwhile. Not only was it personally satisfying, it was also an apparent cure-all for Ryeowook’s erratic behaviors ever since being cursed.

Having someone taking control and taking care of him was doing wonders for his attitude, and despite the plentiful BDSM jokes from Heechul & co., no one was complaining about the results.

Sure, the make-up artists were grumbling more because of the extra cover-up they needed to apply to Ryeowook’s neck and chest, but if that was the alternative to breaking stage equipment, then so be it. Kyuhyun also knew in his heart of hearts that the outer appearance was far worse than anything they had actually done together.

After all, sex hadn’t happened.

Ryeowook mostly got-off on the spanking and biting, and Kyuhyun got off to his own hand in the aftermath. Everything was fine. _Just fine._

_Or not. And I’m in love with my best friend who may or may not want me now because his wolf side is a glutton for pain._

Kyuhyun wondered if he was getting gray hair yet.

“Cheers!” Leeteuk’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. The man was raising a glass of beer, grinning brightly as everyone in the restaurant toasted. “Good job to everyone for their hard work during this tour. Tonight was the final show and everyone really did their best on and off stage.” He clapped his hands, bowing deeply to the staff members who quickly stood and returned the greetings.

The entire restaurant had been rented out for them and it was to be expected that they’d be up nearly half the night drinking and chatting. Thankfully, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun were free of the tenth full moon for another week. Although his wolf side was no longer a point of intrigue for the Super Junior members, the staff was still in the dark and no one wanted that secret getting out.

Across the room, Kyuhyun watched Ryeowook chat happily with some of the clothing and make-up coordinators. His glass of beer was mostly still full, meaning he was trying not to get drunk that evening. It made sense. Ryeowook had been growing increasingly wary of being out of control ever since the wolf transformations began. Having significant chunks of his memory missing had honestly freaked him out more than he let on.

However, Kyuhyun could tell. Always.

“You’re already fucking him. You can’t stop making eyes at him for one second?” Heechul.

Kyuhyun frowned, sipping his drink. “Shut up. I was just checking on him.”

The older man snorted. “Yeah alright. You’re just checking on him when there’s no danger of him changing and he’s sober. There’s a real concern and need for the worry.” Heechul took a large swig of his beer, leaning over Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “So…have you actually fucked?”

“What’s it look like to you?” he responded with as much heat as he could.

Heechul leered. “It looks like you haven’t.” He jabbed Kyuhyun in the side lightly. “There’s way too much sexual tension there. Either you two have the highest sex drives on the planet, or you haven’t actually gotten further than some foreplay.”

Leave it to Heechul to hit the nail on the head. Kyuhyun opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. With a small noise of protest, the younger man curled in on himself. “So, what?” he muttered.

“Oh _no_ , really? It’s that bad?” Heechul gasped, choking on a laugh. “I was just teasing. I thought you had gotten even a little further. What’s with all those hickeys?”

“…we all have our kinks.”

Heechul was howling. Kyuhyun wanted to die.

Of all the people to be talking to, he couldn’t have gotten a worse pick. Heechul was open minded and kind when he wanted to be, but he was also ruthlessly direct and honest. That made the delicacy of the situation moot. Kyuhyun swirled his drink around, trying to think of how to explain what they were doing.

After a moment, he tried. “We think it’s the wolf side that needs to feel like there’s a leader. A dominant person in their life to take care of them,” Kyuhyun explained quietly, eyes darting about to ensure no one was eavesdropping. “It just so happens that the human side of Ryeowook is being affected by it.”

“So, you think that Ryeowook in his human form lets you do kinky shit to him because his wolf side wants it?” Heechul cocked a brow.

 _Why is no one else free to talk?_ Kyuhyun rubbed his head tiredly. “Yes. That’s exactly it,” he deadpanned.

Heechul whistled. “Impressive. I’ve never done it with a werewolf.”

“We haven’t done _anything_ ,” Kyuhyun retorted, “especially not in his wolf form.”

He furrowed his brow. “Why not?”

Kyuhyun wanted to quit life.

***

The tenth full moon was disastrous.

Kyuhyun should’ve known. Considering how easy he had had it until then, it was only to be expected that things would start to fall apart. Everything had been normal during the day and deep into the evening. It was only as midnight neared that Kyuhyun started noticing Ryeowook’s odd twitching.

He couldn’t sit still and his eyes kept darting around the dorm like a trapped animal. Both legs shook, and his fingers drummed out a senseless beat on his knees. Kyuhyun tried to reach out for him, but was slapped away swiftly.

Ryeowook seemed to come back to himself for a moment, eyes guilty. “Sorry. I…didn’t mean to do that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s fine,” Kyuhyun shook his head. _It definitely isn’t fine._

Pursing his lips, he went back to fidgeting and scanning the room as if something were coming. They both knew full well that the others wouldn’t be dropping by. There was nothing particularly entertaining about his wolf form, and honestly, Kyuhyun knew the other members weren’t actually as comfortable as they pretended to be. They all had palpable fear of being bit, even if by accident.

The clock struck midnight.

The transformation was routine at this point, but Kyuhyun still cringed at the way Ryeowook’s body rearranged itself and his poor clothes were torn beyond recognition. When he had finished changing, the wolf shook its head a bit, scratching behind one ear. Large yellow eyes gazed at the surroundings before settling on Kyuhyun.

He trotted over, pressing his head into the man’s hand. Slightly relieved, Kyuhyun rubbed the fur between his ears and was preparing to lead him to their room to sleep when things went sideways.

The wolf slipped away from Kyuhyun and darted toward the open balcony door. Wolf or not, supernatural creature or not, it was the goddamn _12 th floor_ and Kyuhyun wasn’t about to let his best friend throw himself off the balcony. Lunging after the wolf, Kyuhyun caught it around the neck before it could slice through the thin mesh screen.

It growled indignantly, rolling over and over with Kyuhyun who refused to let go.

“Sit!” Kyuhyun shouted, fingers digging into its fur.

The wolf struggled against the order, visibly pained at its desire to disobey. Kyuhyun pushed the wolf underneath him, getting déjà vu. Hopefully they wouldn’t break anything else in the dorm. That bathroom door had cost a pretty penny to fix.

“You will _stay_.” Kyuhyun growled, pushed his entire weight down on the creature. His fingers clamped down on the back of its neck, but the move just seemed to aggravate it. Kyuhyun ignored the shock of that realization, not wanting to lose his balance.

In the far distance, Kyuhyun could’ve sworn he heard… _howling_ outside. Confused beyond belief, he looked down at the writhing wolf and listened to him howl back to whoever was out there.

Fumbling for his phone, Kyuhyun dialed Leeteuk’s number.

“What’s up?” Leeteuk answered promptly. “Is Ryeowook okay?”

Kyuhyun grunted at a particularly violent motion beneath him. Gripping the wolf tighter by the neck, he slammed him face first back into the floor, hoping it would quiet him down just a bit. It didn’t. Rolling his eyes, he spoke into the phone, “Do you have any information on…werewolf packs? I think I heard howling outside and Ryeowook responded.”

“Oh, so now you want my advice.”

“Would you just _check?_ ” Kyuhyun snapped.

Clicking his tongue, Leeteuk went quiet for a moment. After a minute, he responded, but sounded equally confused by the findings. “Uh…I think I found something, but it’s a little weird and I don’t really know how it’d work.”

“Just spit it out!” He choked on a shout as Ryeowook managed to throw him off and make a beeline for the balcony again. Stumbling up, Kyuhyun dashed after him, slamming the balcony door shut just as the wolf dove snout first at it.

The pitiful whine that bubbled out of its mouth almost made Kyuhyun feel guilty. Almost.

“—Kyuhyun? You still there? Did something happen?” Leeteuk called.

He eyed the wolf still nursing its wounds, and very reluctantly turned his attention back to the phone. “Yeah. I’m here. What did you find?”

“It says that werewolves will seek out mates at some point in their cycles. There aren’t specifics on it, obviously, but it looks like maybe that howling was a mating call?” Leeteuk explained in a flurry.

 _For fuck’s sake._ Kyuhyun wanted to rip his hair out. “Okay,” he breathed out heavily, “so you’re saying I can’t let Ryeowook out because he’ll mate with some random wolf?”

“I mean,” Leeteuk paused, “you _could_ let him—”

“—he’s human!”

“—not right now, he isn’t! It might hurt him if you force him not to fulfill his natural needs.”

Kyuhyun was speechless. From the corner of his eye, the wolf was slowly gathering its bearings again and looked ready to dive through the glass doors. Dashing out of the room quickly, Kyuhyun snatched up the bike chain in their hall closet and came back into the living room to see the wolf gearing up for another head on strike at the balcony doors.

“Come here.”

The wolf’s head jerked around, distracted by Kyuhyun’s command. In that split second, he hooked the bike chain around the wolf’s neck, fastening it and snapping a thick metal leash to it. For once, he wanted to thank Super Junior’s members for their abundance of pets. Although it wouldn’t hold forever, it would be better than letting Ryeowook’s wolf form run a muck until it had multiple concussions.

Turning back to the phone, Kyuhyun breathlessly offered a greeting. When Leeteuk responded, Kyuhyun quickly cut in, saying, “I am _not_ letting him fulfill whatever natural needs you’re talking about. Ryeowook would be absolutely sick to his stomach if he found out something like that happened.”

“Now isn’t that a little closed-minded, Kyu?” Leeteuk tutted.

“ _He is not into bestiality._ ”

“How can you be sure?”

It would be a long night.

 

When Ryeowook woke up, he was naked and cold, as usual. However, what differed was the dirty bike chain loosely looped around his neck. Curiously, he tugged it off, listening to the links jingle all the way into the hall. Only then did he take a look around the rest of the living room though. His face drained of color. _What did I do?_ The couch had been slashed through in multiple places, while the balcony doors were covered in deep scratches. One leg of the coffee table had been snapped off, sending the loose papers on the surface to the ground. Some were chewed on and others were stepped on and crumpled. In short, it looked like what a beast would actually do to a regular home.

Grabbing the throw blanket on the couch, Ryeowook wrapped himself up and proceeded to follow the leash, heart racing with dread. What else did he do? The living room was bad enough.

Turning down the hall, he found the metal leash had been knotted several times to a now broken light fixture in the wall. Cracks ran through the corridor, spiderwebbing out from the fixture. The lamp portion had already broken off a while ago, sitting in a shattered mess at his feet.

Walking a bit further, he noted that his and Kyuhyun’s bedroom door was shut. Ryeowook carefully opened it, already worried about what he’d find. This was the first time Kyuhyun had blatantly slept in another room. Other times when Ryeowook had woken up alone, he later found it out was because Kyuhyun had simply gotten up earlier.

Surprisingly, he found nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it was almost _too ordinary_. Ryeowook frowned, watching Kyuhyun’s even breathing. The man was sleeping atop his blanket, peaceful expression adorable in the early morning light. Ryeowook blushed at the thought, trying to shake himself free of the affection.

Quietly, Ryeowook laid down next to his roommate, tossing the blanket over both of them. It was already far too late to be self-conscious about being naked. He felt himself growing drowsy as he cuddled up next to Kyuhyun. Yawning softly, he tucked himself against the other man’s side and fell back asleep.

It was only a few hours later that Ryeowook was once again awakened, but this time by Kyuhyun’s lips brushing across his forehead.

Opening his eyes slowly, he blinked several times to clear away the blurriness. Kyuhyun smiled down at him, a mixture of relief and adoration obvious on his face. “Morning,” he mumbled, voice deeper and hoarser than usual.

Ryeowook shivered ever so slightly from the sound, smiling back at the man. “Good morning.” He reached up, wrapping himself tighter around Kyuhyun. “Can we stay like this a bit longer?”

Strong arms circled his waist.

 

News spread like wild fire.

Before Kyuhyun had even finished processing everything that happened during the last full moon, Leeteuk had already shared the problem with the rest of the members. The only bright spot in the entire episode was that Kyuhyun informed Ryeowook of what happened in advance of their team knowing.

It was a small victory.

“Okay, so does this mean that at the next full moon, Ryeowook might end up _doing it_ with some other wolf?” Heechul clarified.

“No.” Ryeowook and Kyuhyun answered immediately.

Heechul frowned. “Then how are you going to stop it from happening? Kyuhyun literally chained you to the wall this time and from the looks of it, the dorm can’t really handle any more aggressive outbursts.” He gave them both a knowing look. Obviously, it hadn’t escaped notice that the living room was trashed and the main hallway was a construction worker’s worst nightmare.

“I…don’t know,” Ryeowook rubbed his face, frustrated.

“I have an idea.”

Kyuhyun’s head shot up, but the hope wilted when he saw Leeteuk reading on his phone. _This can’t end well._ Getting ready to tune out the conspiracy theory, he stopped short when Ryeowook nudged him. “It’s nonsense,” he hissed under his breath.

“He was the only one who figured out what happened though,” Ryeowook returned, “I don’t want to believe him, but he may be right about things.”

Rolling his eyes, Kyuhyun stayed still and listened.

Leeteuk scrolled further down the internet page. “Ah! Here. It says that werewolves can also mate in their human forms. So, if you want Ryeowook to stop pursuing random wolves on the full moon, just mate with him.”

A beat of silence.

Looking up, Leeteuk glanced at the bewildered face of his team. “What? Did I say something weird?”

“Yes.” Kyuhyun snorted.

“It’s not that bad,” Leeteuk argued. “The ritual is pretty easy. All you have to do is bite the back of his neck and leave a permanent mark.”

“How is that easy?” he fired back. “I don’t exactly have huge canines.”

Leeteuk frowned. “You’re thinking too much. You just gotta leave your mark so others know that he’s claimed. The same goes for him. It’ll probably make the wolf feel less threatened or anxious if he’s properly claimed.”

“I’m not a wolf though. I can’t properly claim anything or anyone,” Kyuhyun reminded, dryly.

“Can’t you be more optimistic about this?” Heechul complained. “Just fuck Ryeowook, bite him real hard once on the neck, and live happily ever after. The end.”

“Can I just say I don’t want to be bitten so hard that it leaves a permanent mark?” Ryeowook raised his voice, eyes mildly panicked.

“Aren’t you into that stuff now?” Heechul cocked his head.

Ryeowook colored. “There are _limits_.”

The older man chuckled. “How cute.”

Kyuhyun cleared his throat. “Look, we appreciate all of your…advice,” he grimaced, “but we’ll figure it out on our own. Thanks for the information, though.” With that, he ushered them out of the dorm living room and out the front door as quickly as possible.

***

Although they had agreed to work it out themselves, that was easier said than done. Their little “sessions” were becoming less and less effective for keeping Ryeowook’s moods in check. Furthermore, Kyuhyun couldn’t help but notice that the eleventh full moon was coming at high speed.

Each passing day found Ryeowook increasingly distracted and fidgety. He spent more time outdoors, and in the evenings, he would complain about heat flashes. Kyuhyun recalled that those symptoms had mostly faded during the first few months of this affliction. Seeing them coming back only made him worry.

Four days before the full moon, Kyuhyun had had enough of Ryeowook’s jumpiness. It was driving him crazy watching his friend flit about aimlessly for hours each day. Neither of them had busy schedules during this time of year, and so they ended up lazing around the dorm. Both a blessing and curse, Kyuhyun could now spend tons of time with his best friend, but had to deal with his constant buzzing.

If Ryeowook could stay silent and unmoving for even a minute, Kyuhyun would cry tears of relief.

And so, he hit his breaking point.

They were lying down together in bed, watching a movie. Kyuhyun hadn’t been able to focus for the last half hour because Ryeowook’s shaking kept catching his eye as the blanket covering them rattled incessantly.

“Stop moving.” Kyuhyun ordered through gritted teeth.

Nothing.

“Ryeowook.”

Nothing.

Snatching the man’s shoulder, Kyuhyun spun him around, pushing him back into the bed forcefully. “You need to stop fidgeting,” he ground out.

“I—” Ryeowook closed his mouth slowly, realizing that his leg was still shaking. Stopping it, he smiled at Kyuhyun meekly. “Sorry.”

“Do you think we should just do it?” Kyuhyun sighed, sounding frayed and exhausted.

“W-What?”

He pinched Ryeowook’s cheek. “Get your head out of the gutter. Not _that_. I meant wolf-mating, or whatever Leeteuk was talking about.”

Ryeowook hesitated, looking uneasy. “We don’t even know if it’ll help.”

“At this rate, we try it and you end up with a weird scar on the back of your neck. Or, we don’t try, and I fail to keep you from running off to mate with a random wolf in four days. Really, we might as well try _something_.” Kyuhyun had been convincing himself for weeks now that this might be the best option. He had weighed the pros and cons so many times, and couldn’t find reasons to not give it a try.

“I guess that’s true,” Ryeowook sighed. “Don’t you think it’s weird though?”

“Ryeowook,” Kyuhyun gave him a long-suffering look, “I’ve been dominating you for months and I’ve been taking care of you when you _transform into a wolf._ If the weirdest thing in your mind is me biting your neck, then your priorities need a revision.”

Laughing lightly, he finally nodded. “Okay, you’re right. It couldn’t get worse.”

Kyuhyun smiled lightly. “Then let’s give it a shot. Roll over.”

He followed instructions perfectly, waiting patiently for the next thing. Kyuhyun brushed the soft hair away from Ryeowook’s neck, blowing cool air along the sensitive skin. The man shuddered, breath hitching faintly.

Kyuhyun kissed the nape of his neck, lips lingering for a long time before he moved further down and traced each of Ryeowook’s shoulder blades with his mouth. The loose collar of his shirt slipped further and further down until Kyuhyun was silently demanding that Ryeowook just take it off.

The pants stayed on though. Kyuhyun didn’t need any more encouragement to jump the guy. Their games had already given him the worst case of blue balls this half of the hemisphere had ever seen. He was already dreading the freezing shower that would follow this experience.

When Ryeowok’s shirt was tossed aside, Kyuhyun caught his breath at the sight. It was nothing new, but his body never stopped being beautiful. _This is the worst torture. Hell couldn’t be worse than this._ He littered Ryeowook’s body with kisses and teasing bites, both hands curled around the smaller man’s wrists. Kyuhyun pressed his hips down, keeping Ryeowook firmly pinned to the bed.

“ _That’s nice_ ,” Ryeowook sighed.

Suddenly flipping him over, Kyuhyun settled down on the man’s lower back, careful not to crush him under his weight. It didn’t seem like Ryeowook would even notice at that point though. He was already mostly gone.

Tangling his fingers in Ryeowook’s hair, Kyuhyun leaned down until his mouth hovered over the creamy skin of his neck. “Ready?” he murmured.

“Yes,” he breathed.

Not really even sure how to do it, Kyuhyun took a deep breath and then sank his teeth into the flesh. Ryeowook cried out, fingers gripping the bed sheets hard. Kyuhyun froze for a split second, but then continued applying pressure when he realized Ryeowook wasn’t trying to move away from him. _Okay. So he likes it. That’s a good thing. I think._

When Kyuhyun tasted iron, he yanked back. Wide eyed, he stared at the thin trickle of blood sliding down Ryeowook’s neck. “Oh my god, are you okay?” he flipped the man around frantically.

“Huh?” Ryeowook mumbled, eyes glazed over and looking at peace. “What’s wrong?” he slurred.

 _What is my life?_ Kyuhyun’s shoulder’s fell. He wasn’t sure if he was exhausted, ecstatic, or confused beyond belief. Then again, this had been the state of his emotions for nearly a year now. “Do you feel...claimed?” Kyuhyun asked hesitantly, wiping away the blood from his own lips slowly.

“I feel _fantastic_ ,” he moaned.

Kyuhyun nodded. “Alright, not what I asked, but that works too.” He tilted Ryeowook’s head to the side, examining the slightly bleeding wound. The imprint of Kyuhyun’s teeth were remarkably clear, already beginning to form a bruise. “I don’t know if this will last though,” he stated, worried.

“It’s okay,” Ryeowook shook his head. “I can feel it,” he blinked slowly, unfocused, “it was right.”

He didn’t know how much to trust a man that currently looked and sounded like a drunk, but Kyuhyun had no alternatives. It didn’t matter. In four days, they would have a definitive answer.

 

The eleventh full moon found all the Super Junior members crowded around a very peeved Ryeowook.

They were all uneasy about what would happen. Kyuhyun had, for once, been too embarrassed to say that he laid a _claim_ on Ryeowook, and so the two of them had kept it a secret. Thankfully, the cooler weather allowed him to where high collared shirts and scarves to hide the mark. Each morning leading up to the full moon, Kyuhyun had been examining the bite mark and found that it was _weird_.

Not only did it not dull in color or impression, it seemed to be scarring over. Kyuhyun could’ve sworn he didn’t bite hard enough to scar, considering he had freaked out after tasting Ryeowook’s blood. They had done some pretty kinky things, but blood play was not one of Kyuhyun’s interests.

The clock struck midnight and they all watched with fascination as Ryeowook changed once more. This time however, there were no distant howls or agitated behaviors.

Kyuhyun sighed with relief, slumping back against the couch. “I can’t believe it worked.”

The wolf spotted him immediately and hopped up on the cushions, curling itself on the man’s lap. He crooned with pleasure, nuzzling Kyuhyun’s stomach. Curiously, Kyuhyun pushed the fur on it’s neck aside, eyes fluttering in surprise when he saw a familiar bite mark.

“What do you mean ‘it worked’?” Heechul prompted, cocking a knowing brow.

Kyuhyun froze. Looking around at his bandmates, he noticed their all too pleased expressions. “Okay, fine, we tried the dumb mating thing,” he blurted, frowning. “And it worked. There. Happy?”

“Extremely.” Leeteuk grinned from ear to ear, puffing with pride.

“So you finally did the do?” Heechul exclaimed, hopping to his feet.

“Not necessary,” Kyuhyun shut him down. Heechul wilted.

“So now what? You guys are mates for life? What does that mean?” Eunhyuk crossed his arms, brows furrowed. “Can you not date other people now?”

The wolf growled low in the back of its throat. Eunhyuk stiffened, taking a precautionary step back. Shrugging, Kyuhyun stroked the wolf’s fur. “Not like I’d want to anyway.”

He stopped. _Wait. What did I just…_

The entire dorm was shouting and cheering then. Kyuhyun buried his face in the wolf’s backside.  Was this really how he was coming out to the others? _This is how I confess my feelings for the first time?_ Well, he tried to convince himself, he had done worse this past year alone. What was one more thing to add to the _fucking list of disasters?_

“Yes. There, I said it. I love Ryeowook. I’m in love with Ryeowook.” The room quieted at the second admission. Kyuhyun looked around, seeing that his brothers were actually being serious for once. “What?”

“We’re just...happy.” Leeteuk smiled gently, walking closer to ruffled Kyuhyun’s hair. “We all knew, but it’s good to see you admit it yourself finally.”

“It doesn’t matter though,” Kyuhyun grumbled, pushing away his hand. “Nothing is gonna come of this.”

Heechul snorted, eyes wide with disbelief. “You can’t honestly think that Ryeowook _doesn’t_ feel the same way. Do you even realize what you two have been like for years?”

“Uh, normal friends?”

“Forget it.” Eunhyuk waved his hand.

“How hopeless. He’s so dense.” Shindong shook his head.

Leeteuk clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “You should really pay more attention.”

Kyuhyun wanted to snap back that he probably paid more attention to Ryeowook than anyone else ever had, and he would’ve noticed if the other man felt something for him. Besides, everything had become too complicated with the wolf fiasco. Kyuhyun no longer knew what urges he was fulfilling. Was it Ryeowook’s? Or was it the wolf’s? 

“Whatever,” Kyuhyun dismissed. “All of you should head home. It’s already late and we know that Ryeowook isn’t gonna be running off to mate with a wolf somewhere.”

Heechul stood first, rubbing the wolf’s head gently. “You sure you two are gonna be okay alone?”

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “Who do you think usually handles these nights?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Heechul pinched Kyuhyun’s cheek. “You’ve been really good this past year. And Ryeowook definitely loves you back, so don’t be such a grouch.”

Heat crawled up Kyuhyun’s face and then he was glaring. “Just go home!”

The members cheerily chatted as they headed for the door, mild teasing and taunts echoing back to Kyuhyun who did his best to ignore them. _They’re your brothers. You love them. They’re good people when they’re not being assholes. You love them. Just remember that._

“So, everything was okay?” Ryeowook asked the next morning. “I didn’t get out?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “It looked like that claiming thing worked.” He didn’t wanted to know if Ryeowook had somehow recalled his love confession. But then, seeing him now, it was unlikely that Ryewook had heard it.

Or, worst case scenario, he had _heard it_ and was now pretending that he hadn’t heard it because he wanted to protect Kyuhyun’s feelings.

Considering his luck this past year, it was a possibility.

***

Life continued uninterrupted for the following weeks.

After so long, it was barely an event anymore when Ryeowook went wolf. Not to mention, it would be marking the one year anniversary of the curse. Kyuhyun didn’t know what that meant, but he hoped it meant something good. From what he could tell, Ryeowook’s behaviors and aggressive tendencies had all but faded away.

Part of the rationale had been that he was “mated”. Kyuhyun could tell himself that things were looking up for both of them now that the wolf was satisfied. There was also the very active sex-not-sex life they were leading. Kyuhyun wasn’t about to be picky about the actual situation and circumstances surrounding their “sessions”.

Besides, he was helping his friend. And feeding the very small and pitiful part of himself that just wanted to touch the man he loved.

Kyuhyun tried really hard not to think about that.

He had convinced himself that this was all for the best. They couldn’t very well lead a normal life together when the wolf was still looming over them like a cruel shadow. Kyuhyun still hadn’t determined where they stood as humans, but with each passing day, he wondered if maybe it was silly to keep trying to think like that. After all, what if the wolf never left? What if Ryeowook was forever a werewolf?

As those thoughts settled in over time, Kyuhyun began to make peace with what their future might look like. He would just have to accept that sooner or later, he had to tell Ryeowook his feelings—wolf be damned.

And then the greatest miracle struck.

At the stroke of midnight, precisely one year since the very first transformation, Kyuhyun watched as Ryeowook sat frozen in shock. Human. Whole. No fangs. No fur.

They exchanged a long look, wondering if they were imagining things. Jumping to his feet, Kyuhyun went to the nearest clock and doubled checked the time before running over to a calendar and verifying the date. He did this several more times with every time-telling electronic in the dorm. Everything was in order. It should’ve happened.

At 12:05am, Kyuhyun turned back to Ryeowook who was still sitting stock still on the couch. With a shout, he rushed his best friend, tackling him back against the cushions. Ryeowook let out a surprised “oof!” and caught Kyuhyun. They rolled off the couch, landing with a thump and matching groans.

“Ryeowook! You’re human! You’re _human!_ ” Kyuhyun shook his friend as they sat up. Laughing with more glee than ever, he squeezed Ryeowook in another tight hug.

“Is this...real?” he mumbled, eyes wide and unblinking. Glancing down at his bandaged arm, he ripped the gauze aside, watching in awe as the last remnants of the wound vanished. It was only then that he seemed to process what happened. Ryeowook slid tentative fingers over the unblemished forearm, wondering if this was just at trick. When he felt nothing but smooth skin, he rubbed a little harder. Nothing.

With a shout, he threw his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck, laughing and crying simultaneously. His friend’s earnest laughs mingled with his own and his warm arms had never felt more comforting. Pulling back, Ryeowook grabbed Kyuhyun’s face, diving forward to kiss him full on the lips.

Kyuhyun’s yelp of surprise was swallowed and he shut his eyes with a needy groan. Pressing back just as fiercely, he kissed his best friend with all the affection and desire that had been building for years. His skin felt like it was burning and his lips finally felt as home where they touched Ryeowook’s.

“I love you,” he blurted between kisses, eyes resting on Ryeowook expectantly. He couldn’t take it back now. He didn’t think he wanted to take it back.

Ryewook nodded furiously, peppering the other man’s face with little kisses. “Love you too,” he murmured, “loved you for years and years.”

“Took you long enough to say it.” Kyuhyun teased, earning a jab in the stomach.

“You didn’t say anything either!” he argued, eyes softening at the sight of Kyuhyun’s happy expression.

“You’ve been a werewolf for the past year. There hasn’t really been a good time to pop the confession,” he shrugged, nibbling softly at Ryeowook’s throat. Closing his eyes, content, Kyuhyun found Ryeowook’s mouth again, kissing him soundly.

As with much of his life, Kyuhyun shouldn’t have been surprised when things didn’t go as planned. Just as he pushed Ryeowook back against the floor, hands shoved underneath the man’s shirt, the front door clattered open.

“Are you _fucking_ kidding me?” he growled, looking up to see Leeteuk and Heechul staggering in smelling of alcohol.

They were giggling and stumbling over each other. Finally noticing Kyuhyun and Ryeowook’s compromising position, they burst into another fit of laughter. Heechul whistled loudly, clapping his hands. “You go, Kyu! Finally getting it!”

Leeteuk frowned, looking like he was trying really hard to focus. “Wait...isn’t tonight a full moon? Why is Wook all human looking?”

“What? It is?” Heechul narrowed his eyes.

Kyuhyun climbed off Ryeowook, grabbing both of the older men by their shirts and shoving them toward the door. “The curse of the wolf was broken. The wound is healed. Ryeowook isn’t a wolf anymore. You can research it on the internet on your own. Thanks. Good night. Bye.” And then he very forcefully pushed them out the front door and locked it behind him. Through the door, he could hear them complaining in slurred voices. Just to be safe, he slid the chain lock into place.

Sighing loudly, he leaned back against the door. _This has been the longest year of my life._

“Everything okay?” Ryeowook peeked around the corner, a small smile on his lips.

Kyuhyun’s eyes traced the endearing curves of Ryeowook’s face. Smiling back faintly, he nodded. _I guess it wasn’t such a bad year._ He pushed away from the door, catching Ryeowook in his arms and kissing him long and slow.

 


End file.
